🤯 Google's NEW CORE UPDATE: AI Sites DESTROYED?

Julian Goldie SEO
6 Mar 202434:40

TLDRIn this video, the host discusses the recent Google Core Update and its implications for SEOs. They delve into the new spam policies targeting expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse. The host shares their site analytics to demonstrate the update's impact on AI SEO sites and emphasizes the importance of creating valuable content. They also explore the effectiveness of AI tools like Claude in generating high-quality, original content and discuss the potential effects of the update on various SEO strategies.

Takeaways

  • 🌟 Google announced a new core update and spam policies on March 5th, 2024, aiming to improve search quality by showing less click-baity content and more useful content.
  • 🔍 The March 2024 core update is more complex than usual, involving changes to multiple core systems, and will take up to a month to roll out, causing fluctuations in rankings.
  • 🚫 Google introduced three new spam policies targeting expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse to better handle practices that negatively impact search results.
  • 🔗 Expired domain abuse involves repurposing expired domains to host low-quality or irrelevant content, primarily to manipulate search rankings.
  • 📈 Scaled content abuse refers to generating large amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users, often for the purpose of manipulating search rankings.
  • 🔄 Site reputation abuse occurs when third-party pages are published on authoritative sites without proper oversight, exploiting the site's ranking signals for their own benefit.
  • 🤖 The new spam policies are not specifically targeting AI-generated content but focus on the quality and value of the content, whether produced by humans or AI.
  • 📊 The speaker's own sites have not been significantly affected by the update so far, but they are monitoring the situation closely as the update continues to roll out.
  • 📝 The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating content that provides value to users and is not solely focused on attracting clicks or manipulating search rankings.
  • 🔄 The speaker discusses the potential impact of the update on AI SEO sites, parasite SEO, and expired domains, suggesting that these tactics may become less effective.
  • 📌 The speaker shares their experience with a new version of an AI content generation tool, which produces content that is highly original and human-like, even with minimal prompting.

Q & A

  • What is the main focus of the March 2024 Google Core Update?

    -The March 2024 Google Core Update focuses on improving search quality by showing less content that feels like it was made to attract clicks and more content that is useful to users.

  • How does Google define 'scaled content abuse'?

    -Scaled content abuse refers to the practice of generating many pages primarily to manipulate search rankings, without providing value to users. This includes creating large amounts of unoriginal content.

  • What are the three new spam policies announced by Google?

    -The three new spam policies announced by Google are against expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse.

  • How does Google view the use of AI in content creation?

    -Google's long-standing spam policy states that the use of automation, including generative AI, is considered spam if the primary purpose is manipulating search rankings. The focus is on whether the content provides value to users, regardless of how it's created.

  • What is the impact of the new Google Core Update on AI SEO sites?

    -The impact on AI SEO sites is not yet clear, but it is expected that some AI sites may be affected, especially if they are creating content at scale without providing value to users.

  • How does Google's new policy on site reputation abuse work?

    -Site reputation abuse occurs when third-party pages are published with little or no first-party oversight, aiming to manipulate search rankings by leveraging the first-party site's ranking signals and authority.

  • What should content creators do in response to the new Google Core Update?

    -Content creators should continue to focus on creating helpful, reliable, and user-first content. Google encourages creators to review their spam policies and ensure they are not engaging in practices that negatively impact search results.

  • How long will it take for the March 2024 Core Update to fully roll out?

    -Google mentioned that the update will take up to a month to roll out, during which there may be fluctuations in rankings.

  • What is the significance of Reddit's performance in relation to Google's helpful content guidelines?

    -Reddit's traffic increased exponentially after the last helpful content update, suggesting that it was successful in creating content that aligns with Google's guidelines for helpfulness.

  • How does the speaker plan to monitor the impact of the Google Core Update on their sites?

    -The speaker plans to keep an eye on their Google Search Console analytics for the next month to observe any changes in traffic and rankings due to the update.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Google Core Update and SEO Implications

The video discusses the recent Google core update and its impact on SEO. The speaker plans to analyze the update's effects on their own websites and the SEO industry. They mention two updates announced on the same day: the Google core update and a spam update. The core update aims to improve search quality by reducing content made to attract clicks and focusing on useful content. The speaker also plans to share analytics to determine if AI SEO sites have been affected.

05:01

🕵️‍♂️ New Spam Policies and SEO Strategies

The speaker delves into the new spam policies announced by Google, which target expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse. They explain each policy and provide examples of how these practices can negatively impact search rankings. The emphasis is on creating valuable content rather than focusing solely on attracting clicks. The speaker also discusses the importance of content quality and how it affects SEO, regardless of whether it's created by AI or humans.

10:02

🤖 AI Content and Search Ranking Manipulation

The discussion continues with the speaker's thoughts on how Google's long-standing spam policy views the use of automation, including generative AI, as spam if the primary purpose is to manipulate search rankings. They argue that most SEO efforts inherently involve manipulating rankings to gain traffic. The speaker also addresses the updated policy on scaled content abuse, emphasizing that the focus should be on whether the content provides value to users, not just on the method of creation.

15:02

📉 SEO Site Performance and Analytics

The speaker shares their site's analytics data to observe the immediate effects of the Google core update. They note that traffic has leveled out or increased for some sites, indicating that not all AI SEO sites have been negatively impacted. The speaker also mentions the natural fluctuations in analytics and advises viewers to wait and see how the update affects rankings over the next month.

20:06

🔍 Twitter Reactions and SEO Updates

The speaker checks Twitter reactions to the Google core update, finding that most SEOs are calm about the changes. They discuss the potential impact on AI content, parasite SEO, and expired domains, and share their thoughts on the effectiveness of these strategies. The speaker also mentions their own experiments with AI content and their approach to SEO updates, emphasizing the importance of experimentation and adaptation.

25:06

📈 SEO Services and Content Creation

The speaker promotes their SEO services, highlighting the benefits of a personal link-building account manager, a 50-point checklist for quality backlinks, and access to an SEO Mastermind coaching program. They emphasize the value of their service, which includes comprehensive training and support, and differentiate it from other link-building services. The speaker also addresses questions about generating Amazon review articles and their approach to creating daily videos.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Google Core Update

A significant change in Google's search algorithm designed to improve the quality of search results. In the video, the speaker discusses the March 2024 Core Update, which aims to show less content made to attract clicks and more useful content. This update is said to be more complex than usual, involving changes to multiple core systems.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The practice of improving a website's visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. The video emphasizes the impact of Google's Core Update on SEO strategies, suggesting that creating high-quality, user-focused content is key to maintaining or improving search rankings.

💡Spam Policies

Guidelines set by Google to prevent manipulative practices that aim to artificially improve search rankings. The video highlights new spam policies targeting expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse, which are practices that Google is now more actively penalizing.

💡Expired Domain Abuse

The act of repurposing an expired domain to manipulate search rankings, often by hosting low-quality content. In the context of the video, this practice is discouraged as part of Google's new spam policies, as it provides little to no value to users.

💡Scaled Content Abuse

The generation of a large number of pages primarily to manipulate search rankings rather than to help users. The video explains that this practice, whether done manually or through automation, is now being targeted by Google's updated spam policies if the content does not provide value to users.

💡Site Reputation Abuse

Taking advantage of a site's authority to manipulate search rankings by publishing third-party content without the site's oversight. The video mentions this as a new focus area for Google's spam policies, emphasizing the importance of content quality and user value.

💡AI SEO Sites

Websites that use artificial intelligence to generate content for SEO purposes. The speaker discusses the potential impact of the Google Core Update on AI SEO sites, suggesting that while some AI-generated content may be high quality, other low-quality content may be penalized.

💡Content Quality

The measure of how useful, relevant, and engaging a piece of content is to its audience. The video underscores the importance of creating high-quality content that provides value to users, as this is a key factor in how Google's Core Update will affect search rankings.

💡User Engagement

The level of interaction and interest that users show towards a piece of content. The video suggests that content that attracts clicks and engagement is often a sign of quality, which aligns with Google's goal of promoting useful content in search results.

💡Search Rankings

The position of a website or page in search engine results pages (SERPs). The video discusses how SEO strategies, including content creation and backlink building, aim to improve search rankings, which is a primary goal for those working in SEO.

Highlights

Google has announced a new core update and spam policies.

The March 2024 core update aims to improve search quality by showing less click-baity content.

The update is designed to identify and promote content that is genuinely helpful to users.

Google's new spam policies target expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse.

Expired domain abuse involves repurposing expired domains to manipulate search rankings with low-value content.

Scaled content abuse refers to generating large amounts of unoriginal content primarily for search ranking manipulation.

Site reputation abuse occurs when third-party pages leverage a site's authority to rank without providing value to users.

Google encourages content creators to review their spam policies and avoid engaging in such practices.

The core update will take up to a month to roll out, causing fluctuations in rankings.

Google's update focuses on the helpfulness of content, not just the method of creation (human or AI).

The speaker shares their site analytics to discuss the impact of the Google core update on AI SEO sites.

There's a discussion on whether optimizing titles and descriptions can improve click-through rates (CTR) and rankings.

The speaker's sites have not been significantly impacted by the update so far, but it's still early.

The speaker predicts that AI sites and parasite SEO tactics may be affected by the update over time.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating content that provides value to users, regardless of the creation method.

The speaker discusses the potential impact of the update on expired domains and parasite SEO, which have been lucrative strategies.

The speaker shares their positive experience with a new version of an AI content generation tool, Claude, which produces highly original content.

The speaker offers a link to their SEO coaching program, which includes weekly calls, courses, and community access.

The speaker's agency provides a link-building service with a personal account manager, a 50-point checklist, and exclusive access to high-quality websites.

The speaker's agency also offers free access to an SEO Mastermind coaching program for their link-building clients.

The speaker discusses the importance of vetting backlinks for quality and the challenges in doing so without a dedicated team.